Travel Writing Career

Dear all,

It's been a while since I posted here but that is only because I have been busy brainstorming, trying new things, landing internships at CBS, NPR Lonely Planet and now-finishing up my education-a BA in multimedia communications this December 2012.

Now that I am almost at the finish line, my thoughts revolve around actually launching the work that I do into the world and living my strengths, passions and aspirations. Most importantly, trusting my intuition and knowing that the skills I have are gifts and I can create the perfect balance by combining them with my mission: my desire to travel and write about sacred sites in India and South East Asia; spiritual culture.

I have therefore decided to become a travel multimedia journalist!

Please support this step by making a contribution towards my education in travel writing at MatadorU! See below for more information. I have until October 30th to make the discount tuition deadline!

There is much more to come, this is only the beginning.

Oh, and while you're at it, take a look at some of my links to the left! My videos, blogs and e-commerce site to get just a hint of what I am building here.

What Life Can Do

It is wonderful to look back at my life and see that yes, what I am pursuing is most natural to me—something I have been engaged in for almost 10 years now, yet still so young.

I remember taking acting for the camera classes when I was 15; writing classes since I was in second grade; music lessons throughout my life and I remember having a camera in my hand since I was 15 as well.

I remember while writing always having the images appear before my mind and I love radio because it paints a picture with words as you drive, walk, work...

Blossoming into perfection is my acceptance that this is what I am meant to do, this is who I am and what I want to pursue and do for a living. Yes, it is hard work, it is competitive, but when you have something unique and genuine, the hard work and competitive field becomes not only a part of what you do, but that push that you need to transform what could be a mediocre experience or story, into a piece that can touch the heart of any human being.

The pictures here catch me in action throughout some of my travels but oh I cannot wait I cannot wait to do more and for a larger audience! This is my prayer now. It is in the ether, may it come to me by grace.

I want to be a television host, video editor, writer, videographer and maybe a producer. On the side, I want to be a singer, musician and dancer. And throughout all of this I want to make a business that will help promote a social change with the use of all of the above mentioned skills and tools.

An Inspiring Field Trip

Just last Friday I went with my Television Hosting class from the Academy of Art University to CBS 5 (KPIX-TV). It was such an enlivening experience. Let me tell you why.

Sometimes, when one has a dream or a vision that can seem larger than life, there are times that one feels that well, it may be impossible to achieve or that one may not be good enough.

This field trip made me live the experience of being in that dream, live at a TV station watching a great role model personify the skills we have been learning in class. This made me feel like I could reach my dream; I could see it, breathe it, feel it, talk to it and interact with it. Frank Mallicoat, the host of the show was not only kind and great at his job, but he was friendly and offered his hand in helping students like ourselves take a step towards success. A great contact to have if you know how competitive this field can be, which I am not yet fully aware of.

This field trip made me feel like I could make friends with people who do what I want to do and possibly have a chance in the future to head in that direction myself. I do not have to feel alone in the pursuit of my goals and meeting these personalities brought that into my life.

As I progress towards my goals they are becoming more specific and refined and I realized that I have what it takes, (with a little more refining) but what I need now is to give that, to put it on the table and not be fearless to be corrected and molded into perfection.

And this is just a gist of what this field trip did for me along with meeting the producer of the show, Akilah Bolden-Monifa who was a strong presence and the person behind what makes this come to life.

Thank you life for this chance and I hope to go again ;)

My Love of Art

I just recently applied for the Steve S. Kang Scholarship:

http://www.sskangfund.org/index.htm

This is the essay I submitted along with the application and samples of my work. I want to share this because this is my mission, how I feel about art and what I want to do! If you have any ideas that will support my education and career, please write me.

Thank you.

Without art the world has no flavor; no expression of love, realization or beauty. Art is closest to the spiritual and practiced throughout the world cultures since time immemorial. Hollywood, literature, music— the root of it is art; we cannot resist it and therefore, technology advances for its distribution.

For this reason, I pursue multimedia communications. My love for various aspects of art was so great, I could not choose one, but chose a field that would engage me in all.

My goal is to use the media to engage: writing; the visual language; music; singing; elocution and public speaking, and dance— all abilities I have been blessed with, to create exhibitions that can blossom into social change and awaken society towards a higher consciousness.

My travels around the world, to namely India, Thailand, Japan, Russia, and Latin America, along with my upbringing in America has shown me my purpose: to discover and present through art and the media, the universality of all cultures.

My goal is great, but only possible through the coming together of similar minds. There is no other way for success than together. I appreciate your time and any resonance and support towards this love and message I hope to communicate.

The Coming of the Multimedia Age

Some people ask me what I can do with the degree I am pursuing. Others say "wow" when they hear what I am pursuing. Either way, I feel more and more "in my shoes" so to speak about what it is that I want to do.

One time, my spiritual teacher told me: "Your service [to humanity] will be revealed in the future." At that time, I thought to myself what in the world it could be yet I saw a future of activity that revolved around communications or the entertainment industry.

Bit by bit my own feelings and inspirations became clear: communication was everything to me, I loved creative expression, and I wanted to both produce and present. My love for business and organization also grew and slowly, it has become clear to me that multimedia communications is where I want to be as it combines all of the above.

At the same time, I am finding that multimedia communications is running the world. Because the multimedia are tools for expressing a message, a career in this field is becoming increasingly valuable as every town in every city of every country has a plethora of information and uniqueness to share with the rest of the world.

Although my specific role or calling is not crystal clear at this point in time, I do know that I am getting closer. At the moment I am hoping to be able to somehow engage my abilities with a news company and begin working my way up. I hope to work with any of the following companies: PBS, NPR, CBS, ABC, Lonely Planet, and IDG.

My next goal will be to develop my voiceover skills as well as join a writer's guild of some sort. Let's see what the future holds. I will tune in again with further updates and more interesting ones at that.

I will also continue to post new videos of my work as time goes by.

Thank you!

Now or Never The Future is Now

Ok so it is about time. I mean come on. I need a place where I can vent about my career dreams and develop a history of my research, ideas, wishes, and my work to show to the world. I don't quite know what to call myself or exactly what to pursue but I know a few things:

I like to travel
I like to write
I love all art forms
I have a good speaking voice
I am a good story teller
I like the visual poetic language of film
I like creative designs and labels and covers
I like music, singing, and am now pursuing a new instrument
I like interview people and learn

And I want to make a career out of my life, not the other way around.

I have traveled to so many parts of the world and experienced and realized so many things, now is the time to make that dream come true.

There are two sides of me, the business side focused on the healing arts
and the media side focused on all of the above mentioned things. Both need to be nurtured and balanced and developed, so here I go. How to begin? I don't know. I need you guys to talk to me but this is what I am thinking:

I need to find an internship that is preferably paid as a freelance writer for some sort of new age or modern company (magazine, blog, or whatever) that will allow a very humanistic, cultural, and spiritual approach to new countries and the things to do there.
I also need to find some sort of job or paid internship as an on camera presenter.
I need to train at Voice One in San Francisco, or another company for my voice so that I can get some job as a voice-over artist or narrator.
And I wouldn't mind getting paid to edit video, especially a music video.

These are my goals and this is what I need.

In the future, I would hope to become some sort of writer, in front of camera presenter, producer for a travel show revolving around my various interests: healing, relaxation spots, spirituality, music, and art, all with my own channel or webcast, online and/or print magazine, and website to provide an online community and network.

Please help me get started in whichever way possible and applicable.